Telling The Time in English |
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Telling The Time in English
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Telling the time means to say what the time is.
Asking The Time: ( How do we ask the time?) We can use some questions for asking the time which are given below; Questions: What time is it? What is the time? Do you have the time? Do you know what time is it? Can you tell me what time is it, please? Could you tell me the time, please? Do you happen to have the time? Have you got the right time? What time do you make it?
Answering the questions: ( How do we say what time is ? ) Examples: It’s exactly or about or almost or just gone … Sure, it is 3:00 Sorry, I am not wearing a watch. 2:30 It is 4:20 It is ten past ten. The time is 8 o’clock.
At Full Hours : ( O’clock /… :00) O’clock ‘ is used at full hours. It means there are no minutes.
FORM OF THE ANSWER: It is ………. o’clock. Examples: It is eleven o’clock. ( 11:00 ) It is three o’clock (03:00 ) It is five o’clock.( 05:00 )Note: In English, time is expressed with 12-hour time zones. Time Formal Less Formal 01:00 it is one o’clock one 02:00 it is two o’clock two 03:00 it is three o’clock three 04:00 it is four o’clock four 05:00 it is five o’clock five 06:00 it is six o’clock six 07:00 it is seven o’clock seven 08:00 it is eight o’clock eight 09:00 it is nine o’clock nine 10:00 it is ten o’clock ten 11:00 it is eleven o’clock eleven 12:00 it is twelve o’clock twelveAt Half Hours: ( 30 minutes passed the hour) ‘Half past’ expression is used when clock shows half hours.
FORM OF THE ANSWER: It is half past……. . Examples: It is half past two. ( 02:30 ) It is half past six. ( 06:30 ) It is half past one.( 01:30 )Time Formal Less Formal 01:30 it is half past one one thirty 02:30 it is half past two two thirty 03:30 it is half past three three thirty 04:30 it is half past four four thirty 05:30 it is half past five five thirty 06:30 it is half past six six thirty 07:30 it is half past seven seven thirty 08:30 it is half past eight eight thirty 09:30 it is half past nine nine thirty 10:30 it is half past ten ten thirty 11:30 it is half past eleven eleven thirty 12:30 it is half past twelwe twelve thirty At Quarter Hours: ( 15 minutes after the hour or 15 minutes before the hour) ‘a quarter to’ and ‘a quarter past’ expressions are used when clock shows quarter hours.
FORMS OF THE ANSWER: It is (a) quarter past ………. . ( 15 minutes after the hour ) It is(a) quarter to ……… . ( 15 minutes before the hour) Examples: It is (a) quarter past nine. ( 9:15 ) It is (a) quarter to five. ( 04:45 ) It is (a) quarter past eight. ( 08:15 )Time Formal Less Formal 12:45/01:15 it is (a) quarter past one /(a) quarter to one twelve forty-five / one fifteen 01:45/02:15 it is (a) quarter past two /(a) quarter to two one forty-five / two fifteen 02:45/03:15 it is (a) quarter past three /(a) quarter to three two forty-five / three fifteen 03:45/04:15 it is (a) quarter past four /(a) quarter to four three forty-five / four fifteen 04:45/05:15 it is (a) quarter past five /(a) quarter to five four forty-five / five fifteen 05:45/06:15 it is (a) quarter past six /(a) quarter to six five forty-five / six fifteen 06:45/07:15 it is (a) quarter past seven /(a) quarter to seven six forty-five / seven fifteen 07:45/08:15 it is (a) quarter past eight /(a) quarter to eight seven forty-five / eight fifteen 08:45/09:15 it is (a) quarter past nine /(a) quarter to nine eight forty-five / nine fifteen 09:45/10:15 it is (a) quarter past ten /(a) quarter to ten nine forty-five / ten fifteen 10:45/11:15 it is (a) quarter past eleven /(a) quarter to eleven ten forty-five / eleven fifteen 11:45/12:15 it is (a) quarter past twelve /(a) quarter to twelve eleven forty-five / twelve fifteen At Other Hours: ( Past / To) We use PAST for ( 01 minute to 30 minutes ) We use TO for ( 31 to 59 minutes ) FORM OF THE ANSWER : It is …….. minutes past / to …….. Examples: It is 4 minutes to eight. ( 07:56 ) ( less formal: It is seven fifty-six ) It is seven minutes past eleven. ( 11: 07 ) ( less formal: It is eleven O-seven ) (0 is pronounced like the letter”O” not “zero.”) It is nine minutes to three. ( 2:51) (less formal: It is fifty-one)Notes: 1. For multiplies of 5, we leave out the word ‘minutes’ Examples: It is five to ten. ( 09:55 ) It is twenty past eight. ( 08:20 ) Is is twenty five to seven. ( 06:35 )
2. We can say also ‘a guarter past…..’ instead of ‘fifteen past … ( 15 minutes past….)’ ‘a quarter to….’ instead of ‘fifteen to…. ( 15 minutes to….)’ ‘half past…..’ instead of ‘thirty past….( 30 minutes past….)’Examples: It is a guarter to four = It is fifteen to four ( 03:45 ) It is a guater past nine = It is fifteen past nine ( 09:15 ) It is half past eleven = It is thirty past eleven ( 11:30 )3. In American English; ‘After’ is used instead of ‘Past’ ‘Before’ is used instead of ‘To’ Examples: It is ten after two. ( 02:10 ) It is a quater before five ( 04:45 ) It is eight before six. ( 05:52 )There are two common ways of telling the time. We usually say the minutes first and then The hours. However, We also say the hours first and then the minutes (Less formal). Examples: ( 05:10 ) It is ten past five. ( minutes + PAST / TO + hours ) ( 05: 10 ) It is five ten. ( hours + minutes ) ( less formal )Note 1: When saying the time ‘ the hours first and then the minutes’, 0 is pronounced like the letter”O” not “zero.” Examples: ( 06:04 ) It is six 0-four = It is four minutes past six ( 07:09) It is seven 0-nine = It is nine minutes past to seven
Note 2: A o’clock has two hands. The short hand shows hours and the long hand shows minutes. A.M ( AM/ a.m / am ) and P.M ( PM/ p.m / pm ) Since the 24-hour time zone is not used in English ( time is expressed with 12-hour time zones in english) the hours must be divided into two; ‘before noon’ and ‘after noon’. For the hours before noon ( 00:01 – 12:00), we use a.m. (Ante meridiem) For the hours after noon ( 12:01 -24:00 ), we use p.m. (Post meridiem) Examples: 02:00 am = It is two o’clock before noon 02:00 pm = It is two o’clock after noon ( 2 am, 08:00 pm, 6 PM, 3 A.M, etc… )Note: “a.m.” and “p.m.” markers can not be used with “past / to” The Times in English Time Hours morning 00:01 – 11:59 noon or midday 12:00 afternoon 12:01 – 18:00 evening 18:01 – 22:00 night 22:01 – 24:00 midnight 24:00 / 00:00 a.m. – (the time between midnight and noon) 00:01 – 12:00 p.m. – (the time after noon ( not afternoon )) 12:01 – 24:00We can use dot or colon as a seperator between hours and minutes. Examples: 10.30 or 10:30We use the structure “AT” with time when giving the time of a specific event. Examples: The train arrives at midday. ( 12:00 ) The plane will take off at a quarter past six ( 06:15 ) The show started at 3 o’clock. The boss called me at 8 a.m. He works from 9 am to 6 pm. |
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